Steam generator and superheater



2 Sheets-Sheet 1..

' Pat ented Jan. 27, 1880) I J. WARD. V Steam-Generat-or and Superheater.

No. 223,&25.

WI'I'NESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

JOHN B. WARD, OF SAN FRANGISCO, GALFORNIA.

ST EAM GENERATOR AND SUPERHEATER,

SPCIFICATION formng part of Letters Patent No. 223,&25, dated January 27, 1880.

V Application filed July 17, 1879.

To all whom it may concem Be it known that I, JOHN B. WARD, of the city and county of San Francisco, and State of California, have invented an Improved Steam Generator and Superheater; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eX- act description thereof.

My invention relates to an improved steam generator and superheater; and my improvements consist in mounting in the fire-place of the boiler a superheating or generating cylinder or chamber so constructed as to answer either the purpose of generating or superheating stean, as desired. This chamber is so connected with the interior of the boiler by pipes that at each stroke of the pisten of the engine .a supply of steam is admitted to the superheating-chamber, in which it spreads in a thin'` annular sheet in such a manner as to admit of all the Watery particles being immediately converted into dry elastic steam; but before being so highly heated as to injure the valves by burning out the lubricants it sdischarged' into the engine-cylinder. The chamber is of a proper 'size to hold about as much steam as the en gine-cylinder will take for each stroke, and at each stroke of the piston afresh supply of wet steam fills the space in the chamber vacated by the dry steam which has entered the cylinder. This arrangement also prevents priming.

Itfurther consists in an arrangement of pipes by which a circulation may be established between the boiler and superheater when the. engine is not running, and by which the superheating-chamber maybe utilized as a generating-chamber when the superheated steam is not desired.

It also consists in a chanber arranged in` livened or made more elastic, so as to be more useful in the low-pressure cylinder.

In the acconpanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section. Fig. 3 is a transverse section.

Let A represent an ordinary steam-boiler having a fire-box, B, and ash-box C, made in the usual way, the boiler being provided `.With a common steam-drum, D, as shown. Inside thefire-box of the boiler, and above the grates, in any desired position, l. mount a superheating-chanber consisting of a closed cylinder, E, having inside ita smaller cylinder or pipe,

E', one end of which is open into the main i cylinder, as shown, a space being left between these cylinders for 'the steam, as hereinafter described. 4

A pipe, F, leads from the steam-drun into the inner cylinder or pipe, E', and is provided' with a check-valve, a, and cocks b b' on each side of said check-valve, so it may be removed when desired. On the same side of the superheater, connecting with the outer cylinder or jacket, E, is a pipe, G, which leads to the cylinder of the engine, supplying said cylinder with steam. Another pipe, H, with. a valve, h, leads from the top of the boiler to the space between the pipes or cylinders E E', to establish a circulation when the engine is not running, as hercinafter described. i

A pipe, I, provided with a valve, i, leads from the lower side of the boiler into the superheating-chamber, so that water may be let into the superheater while steam is being raised. Another pipe, J, provided with a cock, j, is for drawing off the water when sufcient pressure of stean is raised. y

The operation of my deviee is as follows:

`When the boiler is filled withwater the cock i in the pipe I is opened, and Water' allowed to flow into the superheating-chamber, so that it will not be injured by the heat. As soon as the desired pressure is raised this cock i is closed, and the water drawn off from the superheater through the pipe J. The cocks b b' in the pipe F may be kept open at all times,and when the engine is ready to run the stean from the stean-drnn over the boiler can then pass through the said pipe into the superheater through the check-valve,which opens inward.

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By having the cocks I b' on each side of the check-valve, it may be removed at any time, even when steam is up, by closing said cocks. The superheating-chamber is made of a size in proportion to that of the cylinderof the engine so that the expanded or superheated steam in said superheater will till the cylinder at each stroke, and the superheater will be about emptied at each stroke of the piston.

The steam entering the superheating-chamber through the 'pipe F enters the smaller interior cylinder or pipe, E', passes clear across the Width of the fire-box, and then out of the end of said pipe into the main outside pipe or cylinder, E, in which it spreads in a thin annular sheet. As this superheating-cylinder is in the flame of the fire in the fire-box, the steam entering it is immediately and suddenly eX- panded, and at the same time all the particles of water carried in the steam are converted' into steam. As it forms a thin annular sheet around the interior of this pipe or cylinder, every atom is subject to the direct heat of the fire, and all the watery particles are converted into steam. The steam is thus dried by the additional heat; but before it can become so much superheated as to 'be injurious to the valves it is drawn out of the cylinder E at the opposite end from which it is delivered and taken into the cylinder of the engine. As the steam in the superheater is expanded by the access of heat, and the conversion of the watery particles into steam is accomplished, an accession of pressure is gained which forces back the check-valves in the pipe F, shutting off the supply of Wet steam from the boiler.

As soon as the superheater is em ptied by the stroke of the piston this pressure is relieved, and steam is again admitted from the boiler to the superheater, furnishing a supply of superheated steam for the next stroke. The boiler may therefore be reduced to a minimum size, since each charge of steam for the engine is brought to the required state of perfection in the superheater, and it is not necessary to maintain so large a supply of steam or water. A difficulty in the use of superheated steam 'has been that itis so highly heated usually as to burn up or destroy any lubricants With -which it comes in contact, and the valves and seats are then rapidly worn out.

By superheating the steam in a thin annular sheet suddenly, and then withdrawing it quickly from the superheater at the moment it becomes thoroughly vaporized, but before too great an accession of heat is gained, I procure dry steam which is not of too high atemperature.

A steam-drum is not an essential feature in a boiler provided with this superheater, as the pipe F may lead into the crown of the boiler and draw its supply from there, since it will be thoroughly dried and all the watery particles turned into vapor in the superheater.

The supply of steam for the engine while being drawn from the boiler passes through the superheater at each stroke of the piston and comes into the engine-cylinder in ahighlyelastic condition. V

When the engine is not running a circulation may be established between the superheating-chamber and boiler by means of the pipe H. By opening the valve h in said pipe H when the throttle is closed the steam eX- panded in the superheater goes 'from it back up said pipe H into the boiler. The steam therefore circulates between the superheater and boiler through the pipes H and F.

When it is desired to use the steam in a low-pressure cylinder after having used it superheated in a high-pressure one,I provide an attachment or su'plemental heating-chamber to my boiler, into which the exhaust-steam from the high-pressure cylinder may be discharged. In order to do this I form a diaphragm, L, near the rear end of the boiler, which divides off the water-space around the tubes fron the main boiler; but the tubes or fiues M connect with the fiues of the main boiler. The heat, fiame, and products of combustion may then pass through the rear chamber, N but the water in the boiler is separated from said chamber. Steam may be admitted to the supplemental chamber N through the pipe O on getting up steam, so as to keep it from injury. When the engine is put to work the valve in the pipe 0 is closed and the steam in the chamber drawn off into the large cylinder.

By means of the supplemental chamber a locomotive may be operated with high-pressure steam in one cylinder and low pressure in the other, the exhanst from a small cylinder being led through the chamber and then into a larger one. The eXhaust-pipe S then admits the eX- haust-steam from the hi gh-pressnre cylinder to the chamber N, formed by the diaphragm L. Here this exha nst-steam receives an accession of heat, all of which is waste-heat from theboiler, and is stored to be admitted, through the pipe P, into the low-pressure cylinder.

The superheating-chamber answers also for the purpose of generating steam rapidly, a small body of water at atime being subjeeted to the greatest heat of the fire when dcsired. To do this, all that is necessary is to open the valve h in the pipe H and open the valve i in the pipe I. Some of the water ih the boiler will then flow through the pipe I into the superheating-cylinder E, and the steam generated will rise through the pipe H into the boiler. In this way the superheater may be utiliz ed as a steam-generator in getting up steam. i

The arrangement of the chamber composed of the pipes E E' between the boiler and the throttle 'of the engine is a preventive of priming. The priming is the result of Water being carried over from the boiler with the steam into the engine-cylinder. The theory of the cause of this is that the rapid action of the piston in the cylinder' causes a partial vacuum at that point in the boiler from which the cylinder supply-pipe draws the steam, causes a IOO IIO

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sudden rush of steam and water to that point to fill the space, part of this water coming into the cylinder with the steam. This Iobviate by the intervention between the cylinder and boiler of the superheating-chamber, with its pipe F, carrying the check-Valve. The piston action, no matter how rapid, can form no Vacuum in any part of the boiler. The cylinder is supplied with steam from the superheatingchamber. A small amount of superheated elastic steam is left in the superheatiug-chamber, and as soon as the pressure is less in the superheater than in the boiler, from the dry steam cscapiug into the engine-cylinder, wet steam will flow into the superheater, not .in a sudden jump, but, coming in against thealready elastic steam in the superheater, will flow in more gradually, so to speak. Thus no partial vacuum will be formed in the boiler, and steam only will rush to the exit of the pipe F, the action not being sudden enough to draw Water there also; Still, should any watery particles come through the pipe F, they are Vaporized in the superheater, and do not go into the engine-cylinder. g

The efiect produced by the use of this superheating-chanber in the fire-place, arranged as described, is to utilize all the heat of the fuel in generating and superheating the steam, resulting in' a great saving of fuel. The steam is superheated by the same fire that generates it, so that the steam is thoroughly dried without the need of additional fuel.

This superheating apparatus can be applied to any form of boiler, and it may be used in connection with or separate from the Supplemental chamber N, as desired.

The number ot' pipe-connectons with boiler and superheater may be reduced by connecting with the other pipes by means of T s. I do not, therefore, confine 'myself Strictly to the position of the pipes as shown in the draw ings, as these positions may be altered or changed in several ways, .and the same result produced.

Having thus described my invention, I do not' claim, broadly the employment of a super- 1. The interier cylinder, E', connected with' the ingress pipe F, with its check-valve a and cocks b b', said cylinder having its opposite end open, so as to discharge into a surrounding cylinder, E, through which the steam is returned around the inner cylinder, in c ombination with the furnace B of the boiler A and the supply-pipe G of the engine-cylinder, substantially as and for the purpose herein described. v

2. The double cylinder E E', extending across the furnace and constructed as shown, in combination with the boiler A and pipes I, .Land H, with their cocks e j, whereby water may be admitted from the boiler to said cylinders for their protection while steam is being raised, and discharged when desired, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

3. The concentric cylinders E E', extending across the furnaceB, and constructed as shown, in combination with the boiler A and pipes F H, with their ch eck-valve' a, cocks b b', and valve h, whereby a circulation of steam may be maintained between the boiler and superheater independent of the motion of the engine, substantially as herein described.

4. The chanber N, so placed as to form a continuation of the boiler A, and heated by the flues M, iu combination with the pipe O, provided with a valve for admitting steam from boiler A into said chamber, and supply and discharge pipes S P, whereby steam from a high-pressure eylinder may be discharged into the ehamber and reheated for use in a low-pressure cylinder, substantially as herein described.

Iu witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN B. WARD.

Witnesses:

FRANK A. BROOKS, S. H. NoURsE. 

